BUSINESS
PLAN
POWERED BY
GUS
1
Business Plan – Steps & Grading Rubric
FALL 2017
Prof. Gustavo Demoner
Points
Possible
Factor
A. Cover and Executive Summary
1. Cover presents name of company, title (“Business Plan”), name of student, date and
contact information. (FOR A TOTAL OF 5 DISTINCT PIECES OF INFORMATION)
2. The executive summary is a one-pager presenting at least one relevant information
from each (customer segments, value proposition…all the way to additional metrics)
of the thirteen (13) factors (customer segments, value propositions, channels,
customer relationships, key activities, key resources, key partners, ethics and social
responsibility, cost structure, revenue streams, public relations and advertising,
social media, and additional metrics) covered on the business plan.
20
80
* * * This is the part of the plan you do last after all have been done. * * *
B. Target Customers - Segments
1. List the customer segments the company caters to.
2. Detail each of the customer segments, explaining unique characteristics of each.
Who are we solving a problem or fulfilling a need for? Who are the customers
specifically?
3. Explain how the value proposition matches those needs.
4. Present two (2) ideas to exceed customers’ expectations.
C. Value Propositions (for this plan, when I refer to products or services, I am actually
referring to the ONE product or service you chose for this plan)
1. Present your goals for the company’s products/services, and explain if those are
addressing specific problems, opportunities or challenges (what I mean is that you
50
150
50
50
50
make it clear what need is the product solving for the client).
2. Clearly introduce the company’s products/services (Here you give as much
50
information as possible about the ONE product or service chosen).
3. Explain how the product(s) or service(s) match or exceed customer needs, or are
perceived as better or having more value that its competitors.
4. List and explain the company, products or services strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis).
a. Explain why those are strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for
each of the top 3 competitors.
5. Recommend at least two (2) ideas, tactics and strategies for helping you achieve
EACH of your goals.
50
80
70
* * * AFTER FINISHING FACTORS ‘D’ THROUGH ‘N’, EACH TIME, UPDATE SWOT. * * *
D. Revenue Streams and Pricing
1. List how the company is generating revenue today. If a new startup, your
anticipated revenues. Regardless of new or existing, show projections of revenuecosts-profits.
2. Present your recommendations with at least three (3) ideas in details, of how the
company can increase its revenue with existing customers, new customers, existing
products, new products, existing sales model and new sales models, existing
segments and new segments, existing channels and new channels, and others.
3. Present your detailed pricing strategies, and explain how those compare with your
competitors.
E. Channels
1. Present the channels most favored by the target customers.
2. Detail one idea to use other channels, another idea to maximize the return of
existing channels, and one more idea to create new ones. (3 ideas in total here)
170
130
200
80
170
2
F. Customer Relationships
1. Demonstrate how you calculate your customer lifetime value, and show the
numbers. Explain. (I will explain about this one in detail)
2. List how the company is currently attracting customers, keeping and increasing
sales to existing customers.
3. Present two (2) ideas to sell more to clients in each of the target segments, two (2)
ideas to get them to come back for more or reward them to buy often, two (2) ideas
to give advantages for bringing more clients and sharing their experiences, and two
(2) ideas to attract new clients.
G. Key Activities
1. List a minimum of five (5) activities required by the value propositions - those
fundamental for maximum satisfaction.
a. Present at least one detailed opportunity to maximize the return with each of the
key activities listed, and create two (2) new ones.
2. Present all current MOTs (moments of truth) – those moments where the customer
or prospect gets in touch with the brand, company, product, service, employees and
any content mentioning those -, identifying which ones to keep or abandon, and
creating a minimum of three (3) new ones.
H. Key Resources
1. Identify at least three (3) key resources (suppliers, etc..) required by the value
propositions - those that are fundamental for the company’s success.
a. Present your recommendations with at least two detailed opportunities to
maximize the return, or create strategic partnerships to reduce costs and
increase efficiency.
I. Key Partners
1. List all key partners, those who are crucial for the company’s success.
2. Present at least three (3) detailed ideas of opportunities for maximizing return with
current key partners, as well as new ideas for increasing returns with new partners.
Remember to identify all new partners suggested in details.
J. Social Causes
1. List all causes officially supported by the company, and as much detail about its
involvement as needed for readers to understand.
2. Present your opinion on the current efforts in ‘I-1’ above, and your
recommendations for strategically take advantage of social causes from a marketing
perspective.
K. Cost Structure
1. List the top five (3-5) most important costs in the business model in order of
importance.
2. Present your recommendations with at least three (3) new ideas to maximize results
with creative ways to address the opportunities identified within the cost structure.
Examples of that would be to bring on new partners, substitute or replace key
resources, outsource, change location, and others. Be sure to always detail your
recommendations for implementing each idea.
100
100
100
150
50
100
200
150
150
150
450
150
150
3
L. Calculate Breakeven Point
1. In order to calculate your company's breakeven point, use the following formula:
Fixed Costs ÷ (Price - Variable Costs) = Breakeven Point in Units
In other words, the breakeven point is equal to the total fixed costs divided by the
difference between the unit price and variable costs. The denominator of the
equation, price minus variable costs, is called the contribution margin. After unit
variable costs are deducted from the price, whatever is left — the contribution
margin — is available to pay the company's fixed costs.
2. An Example of Finding the Breakeven Point
XYZ Corporation has calculated that it has fixed costs that consist of its lease,
depreciation of its assets, executive salaries, and property taxes. Those fixed costs
add up to $60,000. Their product is the widget. Their variable costs associated with
producing the widget are raw material, factory labor, and sales commissions.
Variable costs have been calculated to be $0.80 per unit. The widget is priced at
$2.00 each.
Given this information, we can calculate the breakeven point for XYZ Corporation's
product, the widget, using our formula above:
$60,000 ÷ ($2.00 - $0.80) = 50,000 units
What this answer means is that XYZ Corporation has to produce and sell 50,000
widgets in order to cover their total expenses, fixed and variable. At this level of
sales, they will make no profit but will just break even.
M. Public Relations and Advertising
1. List the company’s current advertising choices (minimum of three – it means what
types of advertising channels it uses more frequently).
a. Recommend three (3) more effective ways of advertising. Remember to be
specific and justify.
2. Present your detailed recommendations with at least five (5) new ideas to increase
sharing of the company’s sales, promotions and marketing campaigns in general.
N. Social Media
1. DETAIL 5(five) ideas for using EACH of the applicable social media channels YOU
RECOMMEND. Link those to the goals. Specify frequency of posts…
O. Additional Metrics
1. Present YOUR TOP TEN(10) metrics for managing your biz. Examples can be
‘sales per social media channel’, ‘sales per square footage’, ‘sales per employee’….
3. Explain how each of those ten (10) metrics are calculated, and what their readings
mean.
P. Spelling (50), Grammar (50) and Organization (50)
TOTAL
100
100
150
150
400
100
100
150
5000
Note: I will explain all in class.
4
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